Dragon's Breath: A Modern Winx Club Rewrite

An Unexpected Event Part 1

Bloom could barely keep the fake smile plastered on her face, and she was starting to fear that her parents could tell. "Oh! A.... bike. Thank you?" The end of her sentence trailed up slightly, as if she was asking a question. She'd been begging her parents for a car for her birthday, but leaning on a kickstand in the middle of her kitchen was a shiny new bike, complete with a bright red bow.

Vanessa, her mother, sighed from her seat at the kitchen table. She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands, and Bloom felt terrible. They'd been tight on money recently; Vanessa's flower shop hadn't been doing as well as they'd wished, and her father, Mike, didn't make much money as a firefighter. Still, Bloom had really been hoping for a car. It seemed as though every sixteen-year-old girl at her school had one, including Mitzi, her sworn arch-nemesis.

Mike sighed, his eyes trailing over to the large windows of their kitchen. Mike had a habit of averting his eyes whenever he felt embarrassed, and Bloom could tell exactly what was going through his head. "I'm sorry, honey..." his gruff voice trailed off.

"Sorry for what?" A brand-new, sparkling smile was took over her face. Yes, she was disappointed, but that wasn't their fault. "I love it! In fact, I'm going to take it out right now!" She did her best heighten her voice, filling it with fake emotion. It seemed to lift her parent's mood slightly, as she had hoped. With a skip in her step, Bloom raced out of the front door, lugging the bike behind her. With a yelp, her little Pomeranian Kiko hopped into the bike's basket and settled in.

She was to meet Andy and Selina, her boyfriend and best friend, at their favorite cafe for lunch soon. She would be late if she walked, but just on time if she biked. There was a bright side: at least biking was faster than walking! And besides, it was only midday. The sun ensured it was warm enough to bike, but not so warm that she would be a sweaty mess. It was perfect! She swung a leg over her bike and headed in the direction of the cafe.

Selina had been Bloom's best friend since childhood. They'd met when Bloom wandered into a forest in chase of a butterfly. Selina, in chase of the same butterfly, had been visiting her grandmother, who she called Eldora. Strangely enough, Eldora lived in a small, cozy cottage just within the forest. They'd bumped into each other, and had immediately squared off about who had the right to the butterfly. Obviously, by the time they had resolved that issue, the butterfly had flown off and they dissolved into a fit of giggles. Since then, they had been inseparable. Bloom had spent countless afternoons cooped up in Eldora's cottage, frolicking through her gardens and eating her teacakes. She'd spent so much time there, they'd even come up with the joke that Eldora was Bloom's fairy godmother.

It was actually Selina who'd introduced Bloom to Andy in the first place. Whereas Bloom was a relatively soft person, preferring pastel colors and piano ballads, Selina was hard as stone. Her style consisted of neon green hair and spiky leather jackets, and her preferred methods of communication were sarcastic comments and pointed looks. Andy was quite similar to Selina. The lead singer of a local rock band, he had a certain reputation to uphold. That reputation required him to wear the same leather jackets that Selina was so fond of, and to gel his hair into annoying little spikes. There was even a time where Andy carried around a guitar case to "make his look realistic." For obvious reasons, it was Bloom's least favorite phase. The memory of all of the guitar case photobombs nearly made her shudder.

Selina and Andy had met at one of Andy's gigs three years ago. Her style had naturally stood out in the crowd, and he invited her backstage. Then, insisting that Bloom "had to meet this boy oh my gosh they were so perfect for each other it was annoying," Selina dragged Bloom to the next gig and, well, the rest was history.

She neared the cafe, and leaned her bike against a lamp post and scooped Kiko out of his basket and into her arms. Andy and Selina were both already there, sitting at a table in the patio. They weren't hard to spot, as the rest of the patrons were all middle aged, posh people. She couldn't for the life of her remember why they liked this cafe so much, but they'd been going forever.

"Bloom!" Andy didn't have to work hard to make his voice louder than the soft, ambient chatter of the cafe. "Over here!" They were at their usual table, in a shady spot far from the entrance. The three of them loved to people-watch, and this spot overlooked the whole cafe. It was perfect.

Selina smiled in greeting as Bloom took a seat across from them and set Kiko down. They'd already ordered, and took the liberty of ordering for Bloom as well. As the aroma hit her face, she realized she was starving. With the excitement of what she had hoped would be a car, Bloom had completely forgotten to eat. Kiko yipped near her feet, and she tossed him a french fry.

"We don't want to waste your time, darling," Andy drawled. Even when he was simply talking, it wasn't hard to tell that he was a singer. His voice was melodic. She was about to comment on that when she noticed the state Andy was in. His hand was at the back of his neck, scratching. This was one of his nervous tics, often surfacing in interviews and before big performances. He was looking down towards his feet, long hair obscuring most of his face. He even looked sweaty. Bloom had never seen him sweaty, even after rehearsals that were hours long.

"Are you okay?" She asked, genuinely concerned. A quick glance to Andy's right told her Selina was in a similar state, her eyes flitting across the table, searching for anywhere but Bloom. "What's wrong with you two?"

"We have to tell you something," Andy sighed. "There's no easy way to do this, Bloom." "Do what?" "My flame, you know how beautiful you are." Andy had nicknamed her that after her bright red hair. And she did know this; she'd been the subject of a million of his songs. "But it's just..." He trailed off, glancing at Selina, who had her head in her hands. Bloom was beginning to get annoyed, and she shot him a look. "There's a certain way I need to look for the band. You know?" She nodded, urging him to continue. Where was he going with this, and why was he so nervous?

Selina cut him off before he could finish. "You're not the right look, Bloom. Ow! What? It's true, isn't it?" She yelped again, softly rubbing the spot where Andy had elbowed her. "What Andy means to say is that he needs someone less boring."

Her heart was beating much faster now. Was Andy dumping her?

"Bloom... it's just that our band is becoming a lot more popular, and we all agree that we need to maintain an image, and that image is very rocker, and you just don't do that, but Selina does, which is why Selina and I have been seeing each other for a while now and I'm breaking up with you I'm sorry." This all came out in one breath, and he heaved afterwards.

Bloom leaned back into her chair, her food going untouched. She wasn't hungry anymore. Without a word to either of them, Bloom stood up, turned on her heels, and left, Kiko bouncing at her feet.

Bloom was heartbroken. She'd wasted years on him, countless hours of texting and video calling late into the night. A million gifts all for nothing. She'd even introduced him to her parents, all for him to go and cheat on her with her best friend. And Selina! How dare she! Bloom had confided in her throughout the whole relationship, had opened up to her like she'd never done with another person, and she'd gone behind her back! God, Bloom was so angry.

Abandoning her bike, she start to run down the street. There was a rage growing in her, like she had never felt before. It was fiery, and mad, and Bloom wished she could just explode. She ran, and ran until she was a heaving mess of anger and sadness and guilt. She ran until she collapsed into the street. She ran until... until a snarky little voice materialized behind her, laughing?

Mitzi.